Conceptions and Sources
of NorthAfricabeforetheIslamicinvasions?Wasittrueof Britainbythe
timeoftheRomanwithdrawalintheearlyfifthcentury?Wecanmeetthe
ordinaryLatinofthestreetandthemarket-placein(forinstance)thecurse
tabletsfromthetempleofSulisMinervaatBath,splendidlyeditedbyR.S.O.
Tomlin.ButwasCelticnonethelessspokenallthroughthenearlyfourcen-
turies of the Roman occupation of Britain,while leaving hardlya written
trace?SimilarproblemspresentthemselvesalsoforallofcentralEurope,not
tospeakofRomaniawithitsLatin-derivedlanguage.Wedoneedto‘‘think
about’’Latin;andthesocialhistoryofthespreadof Latinanditsadoption
asthelanguageofordinaryspeechhashardlybeguntobewritten.
Inanycase,inthinkingoftheexpansionofLatin,wearenotconcerned
justwithalanguage,butwithanentirecultureandhistoricalconsciousness.
ItisanextraordinarytributetotheattractionofLatinculturethatvirtually
notracesurvivesofanypre-Romanliterature,oralorwritten,orofanycon-
ceptionoftheirownprevioushistory,onthepartofanyofthepeoplesof
thewestern Mediterranean and of north-western and central Europe.The
onlyliteraturetheyinheritedwasLatin,andtheonlyhistoryRoman—ex-
ceptinsofarastheyacquiredalsoaconsciousnessofGreekcultureand,with
Christianity,ofOldTestamenttradition.
Veryfewpeople,eitherthenornow,haveallowedthemselvestobesuffi-
cientlysurprisedbythis.Onepersonwhodidsoallowhimself,however,was
AureliusAugustinus,bornin..andbroughtupinthelittleone-horse
townof ThagasteinRomanNorthAfrica.LookingbackinhisConfessions,
written in the s, Augustine did find it possible to ask himself why his
educationhadbeenasitwas:
EvennowIhavenotyetdiscoveredthereasonswhyIhatedGreeklit-
eraturewhenIwasbeingtaughtitasasmallboy.LatinIdeeplyloved,
notatthestageofmyprimaryteachersbutatthesecondaryleveltaught
bytheteachersofliteraturecalled‘‘grammarians.’’Theinitialelements,
whereonelearnsthethreeRsofreading,writingandarithmetic,Ifelt
tobenolessaburdenandaninflictionthantheentireseriesofGreek
classes.Butwhy,inanycase,hadhiseducationbeenaboutthepassionsofDidoand
notabouthisownsoul?
What is more pitiable than a wretch without pity for himself who
weepsoverthedeathofDidodyingforloveofAeneas,butnotweep-
ingoverhimselfdyingforhislackofloveforyou,myGod,lightofmy